Starting with Hyuga, traversing countless heavens

"It's me! Erza. How about we use Erza's life as the stake for a game of cards?"

Hinata Hoshino slammed his hand on the table and drew five cards. "A straight flush of spades, I win, Erza is mine."

Hyuga Hoshino hoisted Erza and Lucy onto her back and ran off. Hugh stared at the blank cards in his hand, devoid of any color, and fell silent. "Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?"

Hugh realized the person had run away and started shouting, "Woolley, Simon, Miriam, Erza has been carried away! Go after them!"

"Grey has escaped!"

Gray was ordering a drink, also a water-based drink, and the bartender, whose hands were almost numb, was mechanically chiseling ice.

Hearing Hinata Hoshino's words, he slammed his hand on the table and ran away. The bartender, with tears in his eyes, put down his ice pick and sobbed, "I have to quit! I absolutely have to quit!"

Simon was completely bewildered. Where were they? Then he heard Hugh's message: "The one carrying two women is the enemy!"

Hinata Hoshino thought for a moment, then picked up Erza and carried Lucy on his back.

"Natsu, hurry up and pack up, let's get out of here!"

Hyuga Hoshino tossed Natsu a pink sack, which Natsu stuffed into along with the tabletop, and also grabbed a large skewer of meat.

As Woolley watched the group slip away, he started shouting into the public channel, "The one with pink hair and the two with black hair are the enemies."

Hinata Hoshino smiled and waved his hand, turning Natsu and Gray's hair white.

"Meow, where are the enemies?"

Miriamina looked at Juvia, "I've spotted the enemy, the cat's restrained."

Juvia dodged using her elemental powers, and just then, Hinata Hoshino arrived. Miliana shouted in the public channel, "The six people running together are the enemy."

Hinata Hoshino casually brought Miriam Anna along, making it seven now.

"Let's go, Juvia."

"Yes, Lord Hoshino!"

Before Miriamia could react, she had already switched to waist drum mode. "Huh?"

"Where are the enemies? Where is Erza? Miriam? Miriam, answer me!"

Hugh, Woolley, and Simon met up and found that the person was missing, and Miriam Anna was no longer responding.

"Hugh, Simon, what should we do now? It's all my fault, I'm still not tactful enough!"

Woolley touched his square chin and asked his two companions for their opinions.

“I think we should control everyone to threaten them into showing up. Hugh, use your card magic to trap everyone.”

"Ok."

Playing cards flew around, trapping all the tourists. Even the bartender, who was crying behind the counter, was taken away, declaring, "I'll never be a bartender again!"

Simon's voice came through the loudspeaker, "Elsa, we have captured all the tourists. If you don't want us to take action, come out and come back with us."

Erza's teeth chattered. "How could they have become like this, so utterly depraved?"

Hinata Hoshino reassured Erza, "It's alright. I don't have any bottom line anyway. If you don't release the hostages, we'll all die together."

Then Simon and the others saw a meteorite streak across the sky above the hotel, and at the same time, Hyuga Hoshino's voice rang out.

"Listen up! I'll count to three. If you don't release the hostages by then, I'll unleash a meteorite, and I'll kill you and the hostages together!"

"one."

The meteorite began to fall, and a powerful sense of oppression enveloped Simon and his two companions. Simon began to doubt his own guesses.

Could someone who killed hostages and kidnappers together be a good person? Did Erza really abandon them in the first place?

"two."

The meteorite fell a little further, and Hugh and Woolley began to panic. Simon's expression was not visible because of his iron mask, but the sweat on his forehead betrayed his nervousness.

"What should we do? Simon, Woolley, he doesn't seem to be just scaring people. Could he really let the meteorite fall?"

"Release them, stop."

"three……"

"Wait, let them go!"

Hyuga Hoshino San had already counted to half and was somewhat eager to try. The meteorite attack on Wang Mang's new army was quite boring.

With a "whoosh," they were all gone, unlike now, where you can clearly see the three people struggling, filled with fear and despair...

After experiencing various emotional changes, Hinata Hoshino was forced to compromise under Hinata Hoshino's threats. Hinata Hoshino felt like he was about to get high!

Then, the group surrendered, leaving Hinata Hoshino somewhat frustrated. He hadn't even seen them struggle with their feelings, hesitate, and then, with the meteorite almost upon them, forced to make a choice—how could they just surrender?

"Meow, let me go! Erza, my sister!"

"Hoshino..."

Erza hesitated for a moment, but Hyuga Hoshino chuckled and with a wave of his hand, a bunch of cats appeared, burying Miriam in their wake. "Meow! Miriam is so lucky!"

As soon as Xiu broke the spell, the tourists scattered and fled. Hyuga Hoshino snapped his fingers, and the meteorite returned along the same path.

"Hugh, Woolley, and Simon, it's been a long time."

"Yes, Erza, it's been a long time. Ever since Erza abandoned us and left on her own, I never thought we would be able to learn magic."

“That’s right, Erza, you never expected that I, who was once known as Mad Dog Woolley, would be so shrewd now.”

“Hugh, Woolley, actually I’ve been investigating what happened back then all these years. It wasn’t that Erza abandoned us, it was that Jellal used us as hostages to force Erza to leave.”

"No way, no way! It's definitely Erza..."

"Sigh! Even someone as tactful as me can only tell you clearly, Hugh, there are many doubts about what happened back then, and perhaps Simon is right."

Hugh crouched down, clutching his head, screaming repeatedly, "Impossible, impossible..."

Hugh suddenly stood up and ran away, seemingly wanting to verify something.

"stop!"

Simon stopped Woolley, who was trying to chase after Hugh, and said to Erza, "Erza, I hope you can cooperate with me to defeat Jellal and thwart his plot."

"A conspiracy? Simon, what exactly is Gerald up to?"

Hinata Hoshino reveals the answer: "He is building the Tower of Paradise, which is the R System."

"What! How dare he! He suffered so much in the Tower of Paradise when he was a child, why would he repeat the same mistakes!"

"Erza, what is the true purpose, or rather, what is the goal of the Tower of Paradise? Do you know?"

Chapter 277 Defeating the Mountain Bandits is Easy, Tower of Paradise

"what?"

"The Tower of Paradise, according to legend, was used to revive Zeref."

"Zeref, the patriarch of the dark magicians!"

Simon was also taken aback. He only knew that Gerald was building the Tower of Paradise, but he didn't expect that the Tower of Paradise would serve this purpose.

“That’s right, but with Jelf still alive, Gerald is destined to have nothing to show for his efforts.”

"Zeref is still alive!" *7

"No, what are you all so shocked about! Didn't I tell you before that I talked to Zeref? None of you believed me, did you?"

"Simon, where is the Tower of Paradise?"

"In that direction."

"Okay, even though I don't understand, since you're Erza's friend, I'll definitely help you. I'm fired up!"

"Yes, Erza, your companions are my companions."

“That’s right, Gray is right.”

"Juvia, let's go, let's go help out."

"Yes, Hoshino-sama."

Erza's eyes reddened slightly. "Thank you, thank you everyone."

Defeating bandits in the mountains is easy, but defeating the bandits in one's heart is difficult. Hyuga Hoshino looked at Erza, who was thanking him, and felt a pang of emotion.

Even if Erza were to kill Jellal with her own hands, so what? She would still be trapped in the past, unable to break free.

"Let's go, let's take a shortcut."

Hinata Hoshino waved his hand, and a magic circle formed on the ground. A portal appeared out of thin air. On the other side of the portal was the Tower of Paradise. This was a place Erza knew all too well.

The group passed through the portal and found themselves before the Tower of Paradise. Just then, they saw Hugh running up to the entrance. Erza raised her hand, trying to stop Hugh from entering the Tower of Paradise, but it was too late.

Hugh successfully entered the Tower of Paradise, but the tower's gates were sealed.

"Erza, guess what I'm thinking right now?"

"I do not know."

Hinata Hoshino got playful, and Erza gave a somewhat stiff reply.

Hinata Hoshino paid no attention. He threw a punch at the Tower of Paradise. The fierce wind from the punch shattered the outer shell of the Tower of Paradise. The true form of the Tower of Paradise was revealed before him. It was a structure entirely constructed of magic crystals.

"what?"

Erza was shocked. They had all participated in the construction of the Tower of Paradise before, and those were all solid buildings. How could this one be constructed of magic crystals?

Even the pampered young lady Lucy was quite frightened. "So many magic crystals, for a month, a year, ten years..."

Hinata Hoshino's expression was subtle. "Are you counting your rent?"

"Yes, this part is a month's rent, 70,000 J."

Lucy pointed to a small piece of magic crystal, and Hinata Hoshino looked at Lucy with amusement, "How about taking one back to pay the rent?"

"This? That's not a good idea!"

"There's nothing wrong with it. It was originally intended for scheming, so it's called robbing the rich to help the poor. Isn't it good to use these magic crystals for good? Next, Natsu and Gray, dig up a few more. If you accidentally damage something in the future, you'll have money to pay for it."

"Really? Oh my, it's on fire! Happy, come help!"

"Hot-blooded idiot! Seventy thousand J, seventy thousand J..."